Tactical and sophisticated UI don’t go together in my head.
Potted?
I agree with /u Random Dan that the light needs something to set it apart. And although I’m enthousiast, I like “muggle” UI as a default. The other thing is the design. It’s not only conservative, it’s outdated. I’d like a sleek, minimalist design and some very clever, innovative solution for heat dissipation. USB charging is nice but must be USB-C. But to me, this design makes it “meh”.
This 
For a tactical UI how about boot switch turns on in last mode so it can provide simple on/off switching (like the C8F), side switch is press on/press off, press and hold to ramp up, and again to ramp down.
Will probably get shot down but anything more complicated is not tactical or intuitive.
And this! Make sure you look after yourself, the more intensely you function the easier it is to hit a bottleneck which causes everything to collapse in on itself.
I find the design rather pleasant, bit similar to Klarus XT series, Acebeam L16 or the Jetbeam JET IIIM, which are tactical classics. Support for 21700 cells and the “shrouded” USB C charging would be great.
I would be willing to spend more cash if the light had the following:
- decent quality regulated driver for balance of power and runtime. Im not interested in those ridiculous “novelty items” that eat up battery in minutes while overheating to the point of self destruction. Preferably potted for high reliability.
- tank like built designed to withstand abuse especially drops, shocks and humidity
- anti roll design so you can lay it down anywhere and lanyard hole
- 21700 tube that accommodates any cell thickness, tired of guessing games whether rewraps fit or only OEMs
- responsive switches with no mushy feelings
- customizable UI, potentially allowing to use rear switch as dedicated for turbo - similar to L16
In for 2!
21700 please and tail sw for just Flash-and-dash situations, having 2 with the same function risk of getting smtg messed up is high
- I like the basic look of the initial draft design so far.
- I’d prefer 21700 size.
- I like the USB-C charge port in the threads.
- I don’t like crenelated bezels. If the bezel is to be crenelated, I’d like it as low profile as possible.
- I agree with others about the clip. A good sturdy deep-carry clip would be worth having. Anything else is garbage and a waste of money.
With dual button interface, there is plenty of room for creativity. I would like to see the advanced features being only available from the side e-switch. Perhaps the side e-switch can be locked out by default at all times, and the bottom switch can be single mode on/off. The single mode’s level would be assigned by the side e-switch, using last-mode memory. Every time the bottom switch is turned off, the side e-switch would become locked again, so the bottom switch can be used for momentary (forward clicky). Or maybe there could be a delay after turning it off with the bottom button, using brown-out detection, so if you turn it back on in a short period of time, it will not have locked out the e-switch yet. After the delay, to use the side e-switch, it would have to be unlocked with the assigned series of presses (“four clicks” I believe with Andúril). Also, the light can be turned off electronically, and it will then continue to be operable like any other e-switch light. I think if it was set up this way, it would allow using the light either as a tactical light or as an advanced-feature-set light, and the two wouldn’t interfere with each other.
To my knowledge, Anduril can’t really do dual e-switch (as the underlying FSM does not support it - TK might correct me on this and everything else I say on this topic). Getting Anduril to support it might be some work. Andurils is meant for single-switch lights. If you don’t opt for dual e-switch but the one in the back is a regular one you won’t have a light with two independent switches and the rear one is only for on/off + some auxilary function. This would be possible with FSM though (but is also not part of Anduril afaik) - example: ~toykeeper/flashlight-firmware/trunk : contents of ToyKeeper/spaghetti-monster/werner/README at revision 249
I personally would prefer something more in the XT2CR/M2R size category (potentially even shorter, around 11cm would be great). I don’t need USB-C port necessarily.
But honestly… designwise it seems like a 1:1 rip-off of the XT11GT. Literally every element is copied. And it’s obvious because you even copied the two different cuts in the tailcap. In the XT11GT one is for the main switch, the other,m steeper one for the paddle, which does not make any sense if you only have a single button. But as you wrote, it’s just a first drawing, so I am interested to see the final product.
I don’t care for 21700 size and that clip. Deep carry clip would be better, I can live with or without USB onboard charging not major factor for me.
Anduril maybe too complicated but ramping would be awesome to have, may be UI like the sofirn sp32 v2 ?
Two light Groups:
Group 1—-multi-modes: ECO (5lm) / Low (50lm) / Med (160lm) / High (500lm); double clicks for Turbo(1300 lm); Triple click for Strobe (1300lm)
Group 2—-Ramping: from 5 lumen to 1300 lumen; double click for Turbo (1300lm); Triple click for Strobe (1300lm)
Change From Group 1 to Group 2: hold& press the switch for 3 sec on any modes, 2 blinks confirm success.
FSM works pretty well with a rear fwd switch it will turn on in the last used mode and you can signal with it and everything. It wont change modes or anything though.
Looks promising!
(I'm not a fan of side switches, but I doubt that will be changed.)
I prefer that the tail switch be used as an on/off only and the side switch as mode selection. Low to read in the car. Medium for casual search ie “I dropped my keys buy the car” and with a traffic cone. High for building searches. Turbo for woods and parking lots. Fifth mode strobe. 21700 great. Cree XHP-50.2 3v might need looking at, at 6 amps. I don’t need to see 400 yards away but I do need a lot of spill to fill that room or alley way side to side. Slight flared tail cap to help hold into a leather holster. Don’t be stingy on weight. A little extra mass goes a long way in durability and cooling. Double o-ring very much appreciated. Real tactical lights need to be very simple because we’ve got other things going on.
Astrolux FT01/Mateminco TK01 comes really close for me but not all of the modes are tail switch accessible. The charging port while a nice idea, when the rubber plug fails it becomes a water and crap magnet. Your plan to place it under the threads is great. It’s o-ring protected. Please pot everything to waterproof and hold into place. I’ve had a few charging port break off. USB-C charge port so I can plug it in the dark. No charging port to keep things simple would be my first choice.
I’ve never seen S.O.S. or beacon modes used in real life. For mode changing in full tacticool setup place the flashlight head into your leg. Turn on and mode select until you got the right one.
If the side switch will not turn on the flashlight, then that's a side switch I can get behind.
Tail switch needs to physically lock out the current flow. No parasitic drain! Would need to be turned on for recharging.
Interested
So far, I still feel fine but let's see where this ends... :-D If they ever find my corpse someday, the odds are good that I have both a flashlight and my smartphone with BLF's website opened up in my cold dead hands. }P Maybe we should vote for flashoholism to be acknowledged as a serious addiction?
Being serious again:
Thank you all for your thoughts. I will try to collate the valuable information and update the OP accordingly a.s.a.p..
Driver-wise and Firmware-wise we still need someone to help WildTrail. I totally prefer a compact EDC light with a simple, foolproof UI that anyone can use even in distress. That said, maybe it's better to use a proprietary UI or a significantly stripped down Andúril with only basic functions (no strobe, no blinkies, preset to a 3-4 stepped mode group but with thermal config still in place?).
Very well recognized! ;-) Actually, I used the XT11GT as a "template" to reproduce the shape of a typical tactical dual switch EDC light. The flashlight we are talking about here could look different. So, any similarity with WildTrail's later, actual design is purely coincidental.
I just picked up the new M2R Pro, but I am watching this with interest.
Another vote for 21700 and simple “tactical” UI!
Looks very good for me!!
But for tactical use I don‘t like a Tailclicky for on and off and the sideswitch for choosing the different modes, because it‘s not a proper one-hand-use…
My suggestion would be a tailcap like the Klarus XT-series or, what I really would like, a sideswitch at the tail of the flashlight, like the „old“ Thrunite T30s and TN11s or the
Olight M20SX.
That would really be a great tactical one-hand-operation!!!
I like the idea of the SST70 - emitter, if possible….
Greetings,
Bodo
Hi Bodo,
As mentioned on TLF already, WildTrail is probably interested in the "classic" dual switch design, i.e. mechanical tail clicky switch + electronic side switch. Moving the e-switch into the tailcap would probably mean some additional changes, e.g. a double-tube design. However, nothing is decided yet so let's see where we go from here.
I asked Jacky about using the SST-70 (which would be my recommendation as well). Since it's a 6V/12V emitter it needs a boost driver to run at single-cell operation. As far as I understood Jacky, he wants to keep costs at a lower level if possible. Thus, a 3V emitter with a CC driver might be a good trade-off?
I'm not sure about alternatives like XM-L3 (available as of 12/2019) or XP-L HI (more intensity but less lumens). A 3V XHP50.2 is not something I would like to see in that light for it is known to have an ugly tintshift and being available in coldwhite tints, only.
Cheers,
Thomas